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Impromptu fly fishing

Walk-in fishing, wet feet and mold

Florida off-road fishing was in a canal system that crisscrossed the entirety of South Florida and offered the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast and the Gulf of Mexico on the west coast. There was no limit to what could be caught in those venues: sharks, tarpon, largemouth bass, snook, exotics, bluefish, pompano, carp, and on and on.

Over the years of sneaking in an hour or two of fishing on the way home from the trials and tribulations of employment, I began to notice that I was going through a lot of footwear. It got expensive. Two or three dunkings in a canal or even the ocean in the subtropics and an old pair of tennis sneakers would grow “stuff” in them that stunk.

Expensive boots, designed for dunkings, had the same affinity for mold growth. Cleaning got to be too much.

A cheap rubber pair had a fabric lining that immediately succumbed to mold from some rain and my perspiration.

A commercial fisherman in Palm Beach put me onto the right footwear

You can buy the right boots, sometimes called “Wellies,” short for Wellington at big box stores or online. The best is called Gumleaf. Collectively, they range in price from $350 a pair to $80 a pair.

With these boots, you get what you pay for. The less expensive are only alike in name, the difference is huge. A good pair will last a lifetime.